Wake Up
by Random Dice
Summary: "Regina." Emma shot up onto her knees and her hands found the other woman's body. The Mayor of Storybrooke was soaked with sweat, from her hair that stuck to the line of her jaw and the curve of her brow, to the sheets that wrapped around her naked body. Knowing her lover was sick, Emma shook Regina's shoulders in an attempt to wake her. "Regina!"
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Wake Up**  
Fandom: **Once Upon a Time**  
Pairings: **Swan Queen**  
Rating: **T**  
Spoilers: **No.**  
Summary: **"Regina." Emma shot up onto her knees and her hands found the other woman's body. The Mayor of Storybrooke was soaked with sweat, from her hair that stuck to the line of her jaw and the curve of her brow, to the sheets that wrapped around her naked body. Knowing her lover was sick, Emma shook Regina's shoulders in an attempt to wake her. "Regina!" **  
Author's Note: **This is a prompt from Tumblr: _Swan Queen: Regina has a fever and passes out or she's asleep and won't wake up and Emma has to take her to the hospital._**  
Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

/

Emma woke slowly. She blinked past the haze that settled around her eyes in sleep and took in the room around her. It was dark, thanks to the heavy curtains that were drawn past the windows. Not even the moons beautiful rays could sneak their way in and bother the blonde. The door was closed and no light was shown underneath telling Emma that it wasn't Henry that shuffled her sleeping mind. Seeing nothing in the room that could have possible brought her back to reality, Emma turned on her side to crawl back into her mind, only to see something that made her wish she was in a nightmare.

"Regina." Emma shot up onto her knees and her hands found the other woman's body. The Mayor of Storybrooke was soaked with sweat, from her hair that stuck to the line of her jaw and the curve of her brow, to the sheets that wrapped around her naked body. Knowing her lover was sick, Emma shook Regina's shoulders in an attempt to wake her. "Regina!"

The blonde lightly pat the brunette's face, trying to rouse her long enough to get her to tell Emma what to do. Emma's mind was racing, competing with her heart. She wasn't the girlfriend, the partner to take care of Regina when she was sick. She was the sometimes lover-sometimes enemy that Regina snuck into her house so their son wouldn't see and force the two to confront what they were doing. She wasn't given instructions on how to care for the force of nature that was Regina Mills when she was sick.

It wasn't in her instructions as secret lover.

They didn't talk about their feelings, they didn't snuggle or have pillow talk before or after sex, they didn't take showers together or eat meals together or buy each other presents or smile at each other with secret hidden meanings. They weren't girlfriends. Emma didn't know what to do when the brunette was ill.

Was she allergic to something? Did this happen often? Was Emma suppose to take her to a hospital or throw a wet cloth on her forehead and leave?

"Regina, wake up!" The blonde Sheriff shook again and her hands slipped off the sweat slickened shoulders onto the pillow that curved under the weight of a dark head. Regina's head bounced at the impact of Emma's hands and somewhere in the blonde's head she knew that the woman wouldn't wake up. She sat back on her haunches and rubbed a nervous hand over her forehead, wondering what to do.

Seeing the normally strong woman struggle to breathe made the Sheriff's heart ache. She couldn't explain it. Actually she could, she could identify this emotion that swirled within her, but she didn't want to feel it. Not with this woman who wouldn't let her get farther than meaningless sex. Regina was quick to establish what they were doing was strictly a sex only relationship and that Emma was to keep her feelings to herself, something the blonde was more than willing to comply with, until she wasn't.

Until being a sex buddy wasn't enough.

Until she wanted to have more than sex with Regina. She wanted to talk about their feelings, she wanted to snuggle and have stupid pillow talk and talk showers together and go on dates and smile with hidden meanings that no one else would understand but them because they were girlfriends.

Watching Regina's chest hardly rise and her eyes flip rapidly under her eyelids, Emma knew she'd have to get the Mayor to a hospital. Now. Emma slipped from the large bed, briefly grabbing her jeans and the tank she was wearing that day and throwing them on over her own bare body. The blonde ran into her counterpart's closet to find something she could quickly get on the Mayor to spare some of her dignity. Growling when she only found work attire, Emma ripped open the dresser drawers.

Finding a surprisingly large shirt that Emma would never associate with the prestigious Mayor, she turned back to the bed. The blonde walked up to the side which Regina was closest to and gently pulled the thin sheet down, trying not to look at the fists that gripped the sheet or the sweat that clung to the most intimate parts of Regina's body. "Regina," Emma whispered as she leaned over the brunette. "Regina, I need to lift you up to get the shirt on you."

Emma felt weird talking to the seemingly lifeless body, but she needed to believe that Regina could hear her and was thankful for what Emma was doing. Taking a deep breath, Emma stretched the neck of the shirt to get it over Regina's head. Getting a hand under the dark head, Emma lifted it up to get the shirt around her throat. With one hand under Regina's head, Emma put the other under her back to bring up her torso. She rested the Mayor's now-sitting-body against hers and finished getting the shirt on.

Emma pulled the hem down when she felt the twitch of the body on her own. "Regina?" Emma asked, hoping against all hope that the brunette was awake and could help her with what she needed to do, but the hope was in vain. Tears stung Emma's green eyes at hearing the rough breathing that was coming from the epitome of easy control.

Quickly Emma heaved Regina into her arms, making sure that she was decent, and wincing when the sick woman's burning face rolled into her throat. She fast-walked toward the bedroom door, and with little difficulty, she managed to open it without having to put the woman in her bridal-hold down. Once in the hallway, the blonde weighed her options. Deciding that getting Henry first was the easier thing to do, she moved in the direction. Thankful now more than ever that Regina left the boy's door open a crack, Emma pushed the door back on its hinges with her elbow.

The blonde felt bad about pulling Henry from his slumber, but Regina would kill her if she left him alone in the middle of the night without so much as a note. "Henry." She called hovering close to his bedside. When he didn't move, she bumped his bed, knocking the frame with her body. "Henry!"

The sudden movement jerked him and Emma felt like the worst person in the world at the fear that shown in the child's eyes at being suddenly and rudely torn from his dreamland. "Wha-"

"Henry, I don't have time to explain." She told him seriously. His eyes snapped to her face and then his Mother's. "I need you to grab your Mom's car keys and get in the car." He was silent as he stared at her, not really hearing her words. Emma felt the shuddering breath from Regina's mouth land on her cool skin and she bounced her to get a better grip on her. "Henry!" She yelled and the eleven year old snapped out of his thoughts.

"Emma, what are you doing here? What's wrong with my Mom?" He jumped from his bed, stumbling on his sleeping legs.

"There's no time, kid. Get the keys and meet me at your Mom's car. Now!" She yelled when he refused to move. He ran from the room as fast as his little legs would carry him with Emma right behind him. He opened the front door after grabbing the keys that were in the bowl next to the entrance. Bounding past Emma after he closed the door, Henry unlocked the black car doors and jumped in the back. Emma carefully placed Regina in the passenger seat.

As she pulled away, a weakened hand was holding as tight as it could to the white of her tank top. "Regina? Regina, can you hear me?" Ignoring Henry's confused gaze, Emma crouched down next to the woman who had the blonde's emotions in the palm of her hand. A slight nod gave the Sheriff a rush of relief, even though caramel eyes still were out of sight to the blonde. "Regina, we're taking you to the hospital. Is that okay?"

The hold on her slackened and the hand dropped under its dead weight. "Regina? Regina?" Emma cursed every bad word she knew as she slammed the car door closed and ran to the driver's seat.

/

"Help! We need help!" Emma yelled as she walked into the small hospital with Regina in her arms in nothing, but an oversized shirt, and Henry right behind her. The nurses were stunned at the sight before them, paralyzed to the spot until Emma yelled again. A nurse ran off to grab a gurney while two others were up by Emma, asking what had happened. "I don't know! I woke up and she was like this."

Emma knew she gave away too much about their relationship and that Regina would be on the warpath once she got better, but at least she'd be alive doing it. The nurses said nothing, nodding. The other nurse came quickly with the gurney and Dr. Whale behind her. Emma lowered Regina on the rolling bed and, not caring who was watching at this point, kissed her lover's damp forehead. Her sickly face contorted and as she was whisked away, the blonde heard a faint whisp of her name come from a raspy throat.

Emma and Henry stood there, watching the spot where the woman disappeared for several moments before going to sit in the small waiting area. Emma sat first, dropping herself into the seat and letting out a frustrated sigh. "Emma?" Hearing her son's voice so small had Emma opening her closed eyes, something she didn't even know she did, and looked at him. He was dressed in Avenger pajamas that Regina had shipped in for him and something that Henry talked about ever since he had gotten them. His lower lip was trembling and his eyes were wet with tears.

The blonde opened her arms and Henry dove in for the comfort he sought out. "It's okay, kid."

"What happened to her, Emma? Why was she all sweaty like that and why wouldn't she answer you when you said her name? Why were you at our house? Were you in Mom's room? Is she going to be okay? I don't want her to die." Henry gasped out all in one breath and Emma has to put her hands on his cheeks to slow him down.

"Whoa, whoa, kid, calm down. One question at a time." He stared her expectantly. "I don't know what happened to her Henry." She confessed with a soft sigh. He nodded slowly and opened his mouth before snapping it shut. She could feel that he wanted to ask something and didn't know how or didn't want to know the answer. "What?"

"You were in Mom's room." He stated, his dark orbs darted between her lighter ones.

"Yes." She knew it wasn't a question, but she felt the need to answer anyway. He stared at her, brown eyes matching Regina's almost, his stare was identical to his Mother's, proving which one of them raised him. "Henry-"

"Are you and Mom…together?" Henry questioned carefully, not wanting to poke a wounded spot in her metaphorical armor. Emma winced, her eyes jumping to where she had last seen Regina. The corridor was desolate save for a nurse doing her rounds on the sleeping patients in their beds. Bringing her gaze back to her son, she knew she'd have to answer the boy's question.

But how do you answer a question that you don't _know_ the answer to?

Emma swallowed deeply and ran a tongue over her lips to buy herself time. "Kid…" She stared and stopped, unsure as how to continue. "Henry, I honestly don't know. I think we should just wait until we talk to your Mom." Henry was silent for a moment before nodding slowly. "Okay, good." She murmured almost to herself.

/

"Sheriff Swan?" A hand touched her shoulder softly and Emma lifted her head, blinking the sleep from her eyes, she looked up, confused for a moment of where she was. Seeing the blonde doctor that her roommate once 'dated' looking at her from only a foot away, she was hit with the memories of only a couple of hours ago.

"Dr. Whale," She looked at Henry, who was still asleep on her lap, then back at the doctor. "Is she okay? What was wrong?"

He took a seat on the chair next to her and kept his voice low as to not disturb Henry. "Mayor Mills is fine now, we have her temperature below one hundred two-"

"_That's _fine?" Emma's voice was thick with doubt and it was pretty clear on her face as well. Dr. Whale shot her a look that told her she needed to not interrupt him while he spoke of the Mayor's condition.

"Considering the fact that she came in this morning with a core body temperature of nearly one oh six, yes, we're looking at anything below one oh two as to be fine. At least better." He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "We're still not sure as to what brought this on, but we're running any test we can think of." Emma nodded and moved to glance at Henry. "You can sit in her room, if you'd like." He offered.

She quickly locked eyes with him. He knew. He saw how she held the Mayor, how gentle she was with her, how she kissed Regina with the care of a lover. He knew and he wasn't judging. "Dr. Whale, I don't know what you _think_ you know-" Emma tried to deny.

"All I know is that if you didn't bring her in this morning, it would have been to late now." He told her, his blue eyes seeing past her bullshit. Her body sagged. "So if the two of you want to wait in her room, where there is a pretty comfortable couch, you can. It's on the second floor, left when you first get off the elevator, and the third room on the left."

/

With Henry draped across the couch, a blanket from a friendly nurse covering him, Emma sat in the seat next to Regina's bed. She had IV's in her arms, a tube forcing pure oxygen up her nose that hooked around her ears to hold it in place, little pads all over her body that had wires connected to a monitor that kept track of her heart and body temperature, and icepacks around the outline of her form. Her face was calmer than when Emma last remembered it.

Looking around to make sure no one was around, and that Henry was still asleep, Emma slipped her hand into Regina's, careful of the needle on the back of her limp limb. She contemplated her next course of action for a moment before muttering a, "To hell with it", and lacing their fingers together. When nothing happened, when the world kept moving and the second hand kept ticking on the clock and Henry kept peacefully snoring and the green blips on Regina's heart monitor kept beeping, Emma let out a sigh of relief and dropped her head on their connected hands.

Figuring that she'd deal with the fallout to this later, when she had more sleep under her belt, Emma pressed a lingering kiss to the brunette's fingers. Rolling her head to the side so she wouldn't crush Regina's hand, she closed her eyes and let the sweet darkness wash over her, not noticing the slightly faster beeping of Regina's heart and the soft squeeze of the hand in hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Wake Up**  
Fandom: **Once Upon a Time**  
Pairings: **Swan Queen**  
Rating: **T**  
Spoilers: **No.**  
Summary: **"Regina." Emma shot up onto her knees and her hands found the other woman's body. The Mayor of Storybrooke was soaked with sweat, from her hair that stuck to the line of her jaw and the curve of her brow, to the sheets that wrapped around her naked body. Knowing her lover was sick, Emma shook Regina's shoulders in an attempt to wake her. "Regina!" **  
Author's Note: **A few people asked for a continuance and what kind of person would I be if I didn't? I'm not sure if I like how this ended, but I'm leaving it open, should I feel the need to keep it going.**  
Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

/

A tug to her hand brought her out of a dreamless sleep, one that Emma Swan was more then willing to endure. She didn't want to relive seeing Regina at the brink of death, according to Dr. Whale's earlier statement. She allowed a yawn to rip through her mouth, causing a pop in her jaw. Raising her arm to ease the pressure on her joints, Emma glanced down at her tingling-with-sleep hand.

…which was currently tangled with Regina's.

The blonde tried to let go and remove the hand before Regina noticed and she mysteriously lost it. When she when to pull it away, she found it wouldn't move due to a sweaty hand that tightly held on to hers. Emma snapped her eyes to the dark woman's face. She looked just as she had the moment Emma fell asleep, but this time, Emma almost jumped out of her seat and on top of the woman in front of her. Brown eyes, that she felt like she hasn't seen in eons, clouded with a fever stared at her through slit eyelids.

"Can…can you hear me?" The Sheriff could hear the near silent desperation in her own voice, and any other time she would have cursed herself and gotten out of the situation, but this time was different. This time the Mayor gave a sluggish nod. Emma let out a much needed sigh and let her vision blur gently with unshed tears. "Are you feeling okay?"

Regina's hazy irises only looked at her, or right through her, Emma couldn't really tell. They were still smoked over with whatever illness brought the fearless town leader to her knees. The blonde brought the back of the brunette's hand to her mouth. Around the skin she murmured, "Go back to sleep. Henry and I will still be here when you wake up." The sickly body began to relax, only to tense when Emma placed their connected limbs on the mattress. "I'll still be here." Emma paused and added after a moment, "I promise." A glint of emotion that Emma had never been on the receiving end of flashed on Regina's face. "Get some rest."

Dark orbs begrudgingly shut and Emma soon followed her.

The second time Emma woke up, she didn't move a muscle. She didn't want to interrupt, she heard Henry talking and she had never seen him talk with his Mother so willingly. He was closer to her then the couch, and if she had to guess, she'd bet the boy was on the opposite side of the hospital bed.

"-and I was in here. I don't know what you're sick with, but I'm sure Emma does. When she wakes up, I'll ask her." Henry told his Mom. She could hear the smile in his childish voice and it warmed her insides to know that he was smiling at his usually least favorite person. The bed shook once as Henry moved or got on, the blonde couldn't tell. Regina's overly warm body shifted closer to Emma's blonde curls.

"Mom, I know you're kind of out of it right now…" Emma had to bite her lip to keep the laugh in her throat at his statement. "But I wanted to ask you something." He paused and the woman knew what he was going to say. "I already asked Emma last night...this morning…whenever we brought you here." He sounded frustrated and that made her frown. "I asked Emma and she didn't know. I think she just didn't want to tell me and she said to wait and ask you."

A quick breath from the boy followed by, "Mom, are you and Emma together or something?" The room was still and the pretending-to-sleep-woman was sure her lungs stopped functioning.

This was it. Emma wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. She was sure that the first word she'd hear from Regina since last night's "Oh fuck yes!" was going to be a plain, flat out "No" and she wasn't sure if her soul could handle that rejection after the early morning events.

Feeling a brief pull on her hand, Emma feared the worst. She was taking her hand away and she'd laugh so hard her oxygen tube would come out and her heart monitor would go flying off the charts and call in the nurses who were stationed to watch over the Mayor of their small, off the map town. But when the hand in question merely slid back into hers, Emma realized that Regina had shrugged.

Not said no, or shook her head, but shrugged, an I-don't-know gesture. _She didn't know_. Mayor Regina Mills didn't know if she and Sheriff Emma Swan were 'together or something'. It wasn't a yes, but Emma didn't expect it to be one, not with their complicated history. An "I don't know" was fine with the blonde.

"Oh," Henry's voice sounded oddly disappointed. "Okay. I wouldn't mind, you know, if you were." A beat. "Together, I mean." He tacked on for good measure. No more words echoed off the four walls surrounding them and Emma found herself drifting off again.

The third time her jade green eyes fluttered she was on the couch, not next to Regina and Henry. Emma pushed herself up on her arms and smiled at the picture perfect moment taking place on the bed. The hospital bed head was propped up higher for Regina to be more comfortable now that she was clearly wide awake. Henry's small body was tucked into her side, an arm thrown over her waist and a leg over hers. The older brunette's IV punctured hand stroked the boy's equally brunette head as he lulled toward the edge of sleep.

The two had the TV on mute with a yellow sponge singing with a pink starfish.

Emma laughed quietly to herself and fully sat up. Regina's now clear eyes found her immediately over Henry's head against her chest. Burnt caramel held onto emerald, daring her to look away from the gaze she was trapped in. Emma lifted the corner of her mouth in a quick, quirk of a smile. The small smile grew tenfold at the affect it had on the other woman, who now held a tiny grin of her own.

Emma stood, eyes still locked with Regina's, and made her way over to the bed. She sat in her previous spot and her hand itched to take the brunette's hand from their son's head. "You scared the fucking shit out of me last night, Regina." The blonde blurted out. Emma watched as perfectly sculpted eyebrows furrowed. "I mean, fuck." Emma shook her head.

"Colorful vocabulary, Miss Swan." Regina rasped out dryly. Her voice sent a pool of wetness between Emma's thighs and the blonde forced herself not to think about it, though it was hard. _I should be given a fucking medal for being able to look at this sex goddess and not immediately jump her _Emma thought, not for the first time.

"Now I'm back to Miss Swan?" Emma commented with a raised eyebrow. "Last night I was Emma." A splash of surprise danced in her dark irises and Emma was almost as surprised to see it there, but she gave herself an invisible pat on the back.

Regina recovered rapidly, scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I did no such thing. It was the same as every other time-"

"No, not when we were-" Emma cut herself off and looked pointedly at the boy in between them. "Not then." She amended. "When the hospital staff was taking you, I heard you say my name." Regina's nostrils flared and she swung her eyes away from Emma's, knowing that her eyes tended to be a portal to her emotions. "Regina-"

"Just because you saved my life-" The brunette cut in with a quiet, but firm voice, as not to wake Henry who had finally tipped into the realm of dreams.

"-again-"

"-doesn't change how I feel about you."

"And how do you feel about me?" The Sheriff countered, leaning forward. She saw how the other woman tensed and clenched her jaw for a moment.

"What?" Regina frowned as she turned to stare at Emma once more.

Emma inquired, "How do you feel about me?"

"I thought I made that perfectly clear, Miss Swan." Emma gulped and, with her heart hammering in her chest, she turned her eyes down. She fiddled with her hands, intertwining her fingers in the same way she had with Regina a few hours previous. It wasn't the same. It didn't hold the same comfort as having the brunette's slender hand wrapped around hers.

"I thought you did too, but now…I know how I feel, I understand that my emotions caught up with me. I need you to tell me that I'm not wrong and yours did too."

It was silent before a disbelieving voice found Emma's ears. "Are you…trying to tell me…that you have feelings for me?" The blonde brought her eyes up to meet Regina's once more.

"Is that so hard to believe?" True unfathomable confusion resided in the window to Regina's soul and it, in turn, confused Emma. How could a woman like Regina not understand that another woman could like her for more than sex?

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why do you think you have feelings for me?"

"I don't think, I know." She corrected with a grin. It didn't make her lover smile back, not this time. Emma could see that Regina was dead serious, more so than she was every other day of the week.

"And where has this come from? You were perfectly content to keep our little arrangement going."

"Well things changed." Emma hedged, not liking how Regina pushed and had yet to answer her unasked question that lingered in the air. Emma needed to know before she bared her soul.

"But why?" Regina did her best to not raise her voice, or tense her body, or squeeze her fingers that threaded through her son's hair, least she wake him into an awkward moment between his two Mothers. She needed to know what the blonde woman's intension was before she opened her emotions to be poked at.

Emma grid her teeth. "Goddamnit, why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Why can't you just tell me what changed?"

"Seeing you like that! Like this morning!" Emma was on her feet in an instant, sending the chair backward scrapping with a loud screech. "Seeing you like that and knowing that I never took you on a date! That I never bought you something or never complimented you or-" Emma cut herself off. She ran a hand through her blonde curls and a growl rumbled her vocal cords.

"-acted like a doting, caring, emotional attachment?" Regina finished softly.

"Yes. I…I want to be that. I want to have that."

"With me."

"Yes."

Neither moved, the only sound in the room coming from Emma's heavy breathing and the beeping of Regina's monitors. Easing her hand off Henry's head, Regina held out her hand, palm side up. Emma could recognize the vulnerability in the action, as small as it was, and she appreciated it. Fitting her hand into Regina's, Emma allowed herself to be pulled forward.

When she was an inch from the bed, Regina opened her mouth, "I'm controlling." She told her.

"I can live with that." The blonde shrugged with a semi-hopeful smile.

"I'm not use to being with someone else." Regina warned.

"Me neither."

"I can't guarantee I'll-"

"Regina, I get it I do." Emma reassured her, "We can figure it out. If it doesn't work, we tried. If we don't try, how do we know if we're not missing out on something great?" The blonde reached out and tucked a tangled strand of hair behind Regina's ear, cupping her cheek in the process. The Mayor sighed and leaned into the hand on her face.

Feeling the still unnatural heat radiating off Regina's skin, Emma pushed her further into the bed. "You're still sick. Sleep off the rest of this fever."

She made to move away when her hand was gripped tightly. "You'll…still be here?"

"When you wake up? Of course." She placed her lips softly on Regina's forehead, smiling when the woman instantly relaxed. Emma pulled away and sat down next to Regina, their hands intertwine showing a small, but powerful amount of affection toward each other.

The sick brunette closed her eyes, muttering a carefully practiced collect of words. "Good night…Emma."

Neither woman noticed the grin stretched wide across Henry's face.


End file.
